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Just when we're about to boot the singer...

S

Skyblue977

Jun 13, 2008
265
30
Canberra ACT Australia
#1
He nails it at a gig. Big time. Remebers the lyrycs, doesn't overplay, gets the crowd involved and leads us well. All the things we have wanted him to do for the past 8 weeks that he has been with us. At rehearsal he is just dead awful. Adtmittedly we have only done 3 gigs with him but at gigs he is great while at rehearsals he just plain bad!
We now think we want to keep him but we need him to to put in all the time and not just at gigs. He is well known around here for his art and makes his living from that while the rest of us are simple salary men.
Any ideas on how to get him "up" at rehearsals?
 
#6
tie him to a chair and set him on fire and refuse to put him out untill he changes

or

talk to him we had a similar problem with our singer a few months back we explained how close his ass was to getting the boot and he's been giving 110% ever since he does more work than me now (i only give 109.99%)

if he takes the hump and leaves then its no big deal he obviously wasnt commited in the 1st place
 
#8
Possibly record your rehearsals and performances and listen/compare at a band meeting. See if he hears what you hear.

Sounds like he gets pumped up at gigs. Works well under pressure and having a deadline (got a gig coming up, practices more on his own).
Maybe he likes the attention but really doesn't like to rehearse that much. Maybe get more gigs?
 
#9
I would say talk it over with him in a mature way, but keep in mind that practice is really for getting the material down (making sure everyone knows the changes, nailing tricky parts, working out set list, etc) as long as he's not hurting the bands ability to get things done and continues to nail the shows then I don't see what the big deal is.
 
#11
So he nails it at the gig at a pro level and you guys are complaining cause he
doesn't fit your definition of really giving it his all in practice? Unless he's a distraction keeping you and the rest of the band from learning the material, while he's better off getting his thing together on his own, I wouldn't be complaining too much.
 
#12
Another Point is Im an Old Mofo who used to front now I stand in the back and play Bass ,guit or Harp. If U have never fronted It's all about bein able to put out and be bigger than life. It's hard got get up to that emotional level playin in the basement. If U play to much U loose that Every Hair on U're body standin up feelin and that is the majic that transfers to the Crowd. Once the band get's the material down if u play more than once a week U start loosin U're edge,,, somewhere in the band someones a little dull
 
#13
I'm in general agreement with BluesHonky

It sounds like the guy needs the crowd to feed off of. More energy in = More energy out. He can't get that "push back" when it's just the band in the room

As long as the rehearsals aren't a complete waste of time, and his live performance stays at a consistently high level, I would tolerate it

Not an ideal situation by any means, but could be worse. I've played with plenty of folks who kick a** at rehearsal and fall apart onstage.....

Just my 2¢ worth
 
#16
The problem with pandering to folks like this that "need" certain things in order to do the job is that it always seems to ratchet up over time. Eventually you find your efforts are going more towards feeding his ego and pumping him up than actually playing music.

Plain and simple...you do the job to the best of your ability. Everyone has off nights. But no one should question whether you were giving it your all.

I say take it the other direction...let him know that if he doesn't keep coming through like he did then you'll set his car on fire.

I hate to resort to the threat of violence immediately as a motivator but the effectiveness of it typically works so well that I rarely have to do anything BUT threaten.
 
#17
mjwhit said:
just be glad hes not perfect at practices and terrible performing...
Click to expand...

That says it all. Rehearsals/practices are to get the band ready to perform. If he performs well then perhaps it is because he is experimenting at rehearsal to see what will (or won't) work. In other words, he is using rehearsal to strengthen his performance skills. Either way, he's doing his job.
 
#18
I hear what you all are saying about dogging it at rehearsals, but to my mind, you want to play at a performance level during rehearsal for the good of the entire band.

A singer has to drive the band and give us something to play off of. If he or she dogs it at rehearsals, we don't get a chance to see what will happen at the performance.
 
#19
Define "dead awful" at practice...

I was always under the impression practice was the perfect time to experiment, to screw up, see what works and what doesn't. Better there than on stage, right? And if he's nailing it on stage then that tells me (from what little I know) that he knows the show is not the time to go screwing off and playing around with things he shouldn't be playing with.
 

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